121–130 of 201 posts
Another thing I'd like to see is making the "avoid tolls" setting easier to get to. Northern Illinois is toll road central, and I-355 in particular is a huge ripoff when you pay cash. Since I don't need any of the tollways for commuting, I can't justify getting an I-Pass.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you explain your use case here? Normal Google search is great for finding the name of films you can't remember by typing vague descriptions of the plot. Maps has similar functionality, like "local coffeeshops" or " in ".
How do you search for "an interesting area in Woonsocket". Like say you want to go to a park and then walk past some shops.
Doesn't seem too bad.
Maybe people forgot, but google maps was /blazing fast/ in the beginning.
Nowdays, it brings my browser down to a crawl even before the images are shown. Maybe people are just stuck with this "google is the best" mentality, but this has stopped being universally true since many years.
Use OpenStreetMap. It's data is way superior. It's _your_ data. Cannot strett this enough.
Want a fancy browser? Nokia maps have always been incredibly sleek to use:
https://maps.here.com/
Google has still the lead with street view, but for the actual maps I really encourage you to look for alternatives. They've destroyed their interface as far I'm concerned.
I'm surprised the author didn't mention the main difference between paper maps and google maps. That is, google maps is interactive. With a paper map what you see is what you get. You had to cram as much information as it would allow. But this is not the case with google maps. You can zoom in, out, and anywhere in between. You can't compare the two based on the level of information displayed at one fixed zoom level b…
The complaints of the OP are perfectly valid but they're more a matter of taste than an example of bad design decisions.
Maybe the OP would be satisfied with a couple of sliders?
Less Streets-------------|--More Streets
Less Cities-------------|--More CitiesEarlier quoted context omitted.
Not only zooming, Google Maps also has search. If you're looking for Oakland, CA, you go to the search bar and type "Oakland, CA", and it shows up on the map. No need to scan the map for the thing you're looking for, that's the computer's job!
Search is of course entirely useless, worse than useless, if you don't know in advance what you are looking for. Needless to say, search is not an adequate substitute for intelligent design and proper levels of detail on maps.
Of course, you DO have SOME idea of what you're looking for and that's where Google maps can help infinitely better than any paper map.
I'm confused by the replies saying that more dense labels would somehow harm usability for driving or navigation. When you're driving, you know where you're going, the map knows where you're going, and it's easy to see the route you need to take. When you're not on a route, denser labels help you to orient yourself with the map and to know when to zoom into a particular location. That said, I also think the focus on…
For driving Google Maps getting quite bad. See this screenshoot: http://imgur.com/uPO8QJh This kind of crowded display is fairly common now. I use Here Maps now which is much better + I like supporting a second option to avoid one service getting 2 monopolistic. My theory of why google maps is getting worse is there must be designers dedicated to this that need to constantly look for 'new' things to add even if its t…
I'm confused by the replies saying that more dense labels would somehow harm usability for driving or navigation. When you're driving, you know where you're going, the map knows where you're going, and it's easy to see the route you need to take. When you're not on a route, denser labels help you to orient yourself with the map and to know when to zoom into a particular location. That said, I also think the focus on…
To expand on your second point, I believe Google Maps is optimized for the user to be following directions. Labels are irrelevant when you've got a blue line to follow. In their perfect world you don't orient yourself with the map. You tell the map what you want and it tells you how to get there.
Google maps labeling is wrong and dangerous for drivers due to the need to keep your finger there.